I T Modernization Project, 2012 and Change Leaders of India Post

Bruhaspati Samal

Divnl. Secy., AIPEU, Gr-C, Bhubaneswar

eMail:bsamalbbsr@gmail.com

(Published in Bhartiya Post, August, 2013 issue )

Am I talking to Mr. Samal ? – Someone on the other side of my mobile was trying to contact me perhaps.

Ya, Samal speaking. May I know your identity Sir ? – I replied.

We are working on CBS of India Post – the gentleman on the other side replied.

Fine. How can I help you Sir ? – I asked.

We have a doubt on calculation of Post Maturity Interest(PMI) in case of NSS-92. May we be clarified?

PMI on NSS-92 ! - I became surprised with the doubt of the representative of the Selected Vendor of India Post working on CBS. Anyhow, suppressing my anxiety, I explained him the rule position and told that NSS-92 does not carry any PMI except the prevailing rate of interest till closure of the Account. Those POSB Schemes which have a definite maturity period only carry PMI.

Disconnecting my mobile, I became puzzled. I was confirmed that the outside vendor, i.e the external Change Agent / Leader working on CBS ( an important part of I T Modernization Project of India Post )  does not possess full knowledge on POSB Schemes on one hand and the Department’s own in-house change specialist, i. e. the internal Change Agent / Leader for the purpose is not properly coordinating with the vendor for correct implementation of the Project on the other. It is certainly ridiculous and dangerous as well.

This is a fact and not a story at all.

 But let me remind you the story already published in India Post Website – A  story about change titled “Natkhat Mithoo” in two parts ( likely to be continued ). The Chapter 1 has been published on 22.03.2013 with a central idea, “We are all happy in our comfort zones. The world outside is changing rapidly. We need to change to keep up with the world.” The Chapter 2 has been published on 26.06.2013 with a lesson “Change can be difficult. The question to always ask is – What else is possible? – How can I make it possible.” As per the publications made so far, Mithoo, a parrot ( we may call him as one of the employees of India Post )  has been thrilled with the   additional amenities available in the proposed place of shifting ( we may call it the I T Modernization Project 2012 ) than what he is now getting in his own existing place and to address the negativity created in the minds of the members of his community (we may designate them as the staff members of India Post ) he learnt  how to club the fear of accepting the change  under three categories – ‘Head’ i.e., the thought process to resist change, ‘Heart’, i.e., the feeling of insecurity of  moving out of the comfort zone and ‘Hand’, i.e., the uncertainty  to adapt to changes giving up old habits and accepting new technologies and processes. He has been completely impressed  not only  to accept the change but to play various  roles of a change agent , viz. Leader, Climate Setter, Guide, Teacher and finally as a Resistance Manager for the members of his community.

As understood, the idea of the Department of Posts behind such publications is that the existing employees are quite happy with their comfort zone and will not accept the proposed change through I T Modernization Project 2012 unless they are motivated to accept the future changes. The very fact that Secretary, Department of Posts has made a power point presentation about the I T Modernization Project 2012 in the AIC of P 3 shows the seriousness of the Department in implementing the I T Modernization Project, 2012 which can be briefed as follows.

Brief of IT Modernization Project & updates:

To face the twin challenges of increasing competition and continuing advances in communication technology on one hand and to provide better customer service with wider reach to the Indian populace  through more customer interaction channels, growth through new lines of business and IT enablement of business processes and support functions on the other, India Post has undertaken an end to end IT Modernization Project-2012 in September, 2012 to be implemented  in three phases  - Pilot ( Pilot Circles are Assam, UP, Rajastan, Maharastra, Karnatak & Tamilnadu, Delhi & Andhra Pradesh ), Phase – I & Phase – II with the following main objectives.

a.    Modernization and computerization of post offices across the country including branch post offices in rural areas and creation of an urban-rural network

b.    Implementation of integrated software covering all operations of the DoP such as Mail Operations, Postal Banking, Insurance, Finance and HR.

c.    Establishment of the required IT Infrastructure including Data Centre, Wide Area Network based networking of the departmental post offices.

d.    Deployment of Rural  Information Communication Technology ( Rural ICT ) infrastructure in approximately 130000 rural post offices across the country.

The Project  also envisages some benefits for the employees, such as opportunity to deliver enhanced IT enabled services to the customers, automation of processes, resulting in reduction of  manual work,better decision making and operational planning, reduction in non-value added manual work  leading to enhanced employee satisfaction, opportunity to learn, build and enhance new skills and expertise, improvement in employee engagement and empowerment and opportunity to be a part of growing and vibrant organization.

The Project will be implemented by various streams , each being handled by a separate vendor, in the following manner.

a.    Three System Integrators :

i.      Core System Integrator (CSI) for solution relating to Mails, Postal Counters, Remittances, HR, F & A.

ii.     Financial Services Integrator (FSI) for solutions relating to POSB and PLI.

iii.    Rural System Integrator (RSI) relating to MGNREGS, eMO and Integration of EDOs.

b.    Four Infrastructure Providers :

i.      Data Centre Facility (DCF) for hosting the central servers and management of Disaster Recovery Centre.

ii.     Network Integrator for providing WAN to connect the P Os and other administrative offices with Data Centre.

iii.    Rural Hardware (RH) for providing connectivity, hardware and solar power panels to branch post offices.

iv.   Mail Office Hardware (MOH) for providing 15000 postmen handled devices and hardware for Mail Offices & TMOs.

c.    Training and Change Management component by a separate vendor for preparing the workforce for complete change in Department’s working after implementation of the IT Project.

d.    Each vendor is mandated to bring a separate training component relating to his activity.

The present status summary of the IT Modernization Project is as follows (Information collected from last Heads of Circle Conference, 2013):

Sl. No.	Project Name	Name of the selected Vendor	Status
1	CSI	M/s TCS	Contract to be signed   & Project to be kicked off
2	FSI	M/s Infosys	Contract  signed and Project kicked off on  28th Sept., ‘12
3	RSI	M/s Infosys	Contract  signed   and Project to be  kicked off .
4	Network Integrator	M/s Sify	Contract  signed and Project kicked off on  28th Sept., ‘12
5	Change Management	M/s TCS	Contract  signed   and Project kicked off 15th Oct., 2012
6	DCF	M/s Reliance	Contract  signed and Project kicked off on  28th Dec., ‘12
7	RH	M/s Sai Info System	Contract to be signed   & Project to be kicked off
8	MOH	-	Fresh RFP being issued

Implementation Process through Change Leaders / Agents

The success of India Post IT Modernization Project is possible with the constant engagement of the officers and staff as Change Leaders who will be trained by the Change Management Vendor – M/s Tata Consultancy Services Limited on leadership styles required for executing the Project. Accordingly, the Department vide its letter No. 12-10/2013-PMU, dated 01.02.2013 has issued guidelines to all the Heads of Circles to choose and nominate the Change Leaders whose participation would be done at 3 tires as follows :

a.    Tire 1 : Face to face interaction done with Members, CPMG/CGM, DDG, PMGs and GM(F)

b.    Tire 2 : Full day workshop with all DPS, Divisional Heads, Director PTC and Director Accounts

c.    Tire 3 : Workshops with representative officials from Sub-Divisions and HOs

As evident, the Tire 3 Change Leaders will be from the grass root level who will play the key roles in implementing the Project. As per the guidelines issued by the Department, the Change Leader should be proactive and friendly with positive attitude possessing the ability to pick new concepts with ease and to inspire and motivate other. What he says is well-understood and believed by others and he takes time and efforts to listen to others and understand situation. Accordingly, the heads of Circles Regions and Divisions have already nominated several Natkhat Mithoos from their respective units to play the roles of Change Leaders for implementation of IT Modernization Project, 2012.

But what, exactly is the “change agent” role? Is it to represent management with employees as change is implemented? Is it to introduce and champion new initiatives intended to improve organizational performance? Is it to monitor and influence climate and morale?  Broadly speaking the most important contributions to be made through the change agent role are those that sustain the organization’s current performance and assure its future performance i.e.

• Enabling people to work effectively as they plan, implement and experience change.

• Increasing people’s ability to manage future change.

A Change Leader :

A person who wearing many different hats implements organizational change with extraordinary versatility within a broad skill set is a Change Leader. He acts as a detective and usually requires digging below the surface to understand the dynamics of the organization for finding out the clues that give away what is really preventing change from happening. He also keeps beating the drum of change when everyone else is busy with other activities. He understands the personal implications of people involved to help people feel better about making the changes. So the Change Leader acts as a counselor. As a facilitator, he designs systems, tools, forms, and processes to enable people to succeed as they go through change. The Change Leader manages conflict as a mediator by helping different parties see the situation from the other’s point of view, and by finding common goals. As an expert, the Change Leader shares knowledge and demonstrates that he can be relied upon to point people in the right direction. A Change Leader ensures that there are goals, targets, and due dates for the project and finds ways to hold people accountable for the purpose .

A successful Change Leader should possess the ability to diagnose problems, build relationships with clients, ensure that the Vision is articulated, set a Leadership Agenda, solve problems   and implement plans to achieve change. It is apparent that these are a blend of personal attributes and developed skill sets. A change agent working at the strategic level cannot be effective without them. Having a clearly articulated competency model for the change agent role is one thing; acquiring the knowledge and skills to function effectively in this role is another. Effectiveness in any role is a combination of competence and confidence.

Now India Post needs to analyze  and see if its Change Leaders are competent and confident.

   Competence and Confidence of present grass root level workforce of India Post:

a.   As on 31.03.2012, out of 154822 post offices in toto, 129378 branch post offices (83.57%) are in rural areas which are managed by Gramin Dak Sewaks with minimum qualification of Matriculate or below and without any technical knowledge. In addition, it is a naked truth that barring a few new entrants, most of the regular departmental Group-C senior officials don’t know the fundamentals of computer. Similar is the case of Postmen who are being promoted from GDS and MTS.

Contradictorily, the present mode of computer literacy and training programme of India Post only aims at imparting training on different modules / packages in operation by the Department just to suit its needs only without considering the needs of the employees.  The I T Modernization Project has no plan to redesign the computer training programmes by the selected vendor to teach the fundamentals of computer to such officials having no computer knowledge which may stand in the way of effective implementation of the Project and affect the opportunity to learn, build and enhance new skills and expertise.

A Change Leader especially the proposed Tire – 3 Change Leaders of India Post may possess the skill and power only to stimulate, facilitate, and coordinate the change effort but nothing to do with the policy already framed. Thus, the Department should not be overconfident on the competence of  such Change Leaders unless the current policy to train the existing staff members is changed.

b.   Most of the Branch Post Offices functioning in the rent free accommodations provided by the Gramin Dak Sevaks are completely unsuitable for computer networking. The basic civil and electrical works needed for computerization have been witnessed to be of sub-standard nature in Departmental post offices most of which are functioning on rented buildings owned by private people. So modernization of all such post office buildings ( as designed under the IT Modernization Project) over which the Department has no control may be a myth since the Change Leaders have nothing to do with such infrastructure.

c.   Department of Posts has computerized 24969 Departmental Post Offices as on 31.03.2012 to improve public service delivery. Integrated software covering all operations of the DoP such as Mail Operations, Postal Banking, Insurance, Finance and HR may be implemented and WAN connectivity, Data Centre, implementation of Core Banking Solution, 1000 ATMs, Net Banking, Mobile Banking, electronic connectivity and instant service through computerized environment as proposed under the IT Modernization Project may be provided. The rural post offices may also be enabled with finger print scanner, debit/smart card reader, bar code cum-page scanner printer, and hand held device/notebook which will also double up as a micro ATM.

But the same will be forceful and their operation may be futile in future in the hands of untrained non-technical employees and in private rented buildings as discussed above.

d.    The IT modernization Project envisages reduction in manual work and thus will lead to enhance employees’ satisfaction. But as witnessed, even in the fully computerized offices, the grass root level staff members, simultaneously with computerized works perform the manual works in accordance with the rules and procedures of Postal Manuals in the fear of disciplinary action since the Postal Manuals have not yet been amended deleting the traditional clauses not required after computerization. In case of any deviation, the so called disciplinary authorities will go as per the rules for taking disciplinary action. The Change Leaders will certainly fail to convince such staff members to stop unnecessary manual works unless the Acts and Rules are suitably amended.

e.    The assured benefit for the employees with respect to better decision making and operational planning is just a mirage. It is not understood how better decision making and operational planning will be there without extension of financial and administrative power to the actual leader controlling the total workforce at the grass root level  i.e. the Postmaster.

f.     As proposed, there will be opportunity for the employees to deliver enhanced IT enabled services to their customers leading to a significant reduction in customer complaints. But it will not be possible unless the problems faced by the Counter P A and other grass root level workers are suitably addressed.

i.      Supply of sub-standard MPCM stickers with low quality paper, improper gumming and perforation always consumes more time than the delivery standard assured under Citizen Charter which is always inviting unnecessary complaints..

ii.    Most of the post offices are not having additional computer accessories, viz. Mouse, Key-Board, Printer, Scanner, Cartridge etc for use at the time of emergency. As such at the time of need, the grass root level staff members are feeling helpless and thus fail to minimize public complaints.

iii.   The broad-band connection in most of the rural post offices are remaining out of order for weeks together which stands in the way of instant solution of public complaints through trace and track system. There is neither any defined mechanism with the local administration to handle such issues instantly nor any alternative way to address the problem. Most of the times, it is seen that, there is a tossle of shifting of responsibility from Post Office to Division Office and vice-versa.

iv.  Most of the Circles have failed to bring all the nodes and servers including UPS, generator etc. under AMC as a result of which systems are kept idle without repairing. It is needless to say that for change of a battery of the UPS, the Post Office has to wait for months together to obtain approval which damages the series of batteries as a whole and thus due to want of foresight and delayed method of file processing, the Department has to change the total series instead of one. There is no accountability with the administration as to functioning of the generators. The kerosene generators supplied to the post offices during the recent past are not functioning due to want of kerosene. In rural areas, there is continuous load-shading  and power during which the works of the computerized post offices remain completely paralyzed. Till the Internal Change Leaders at Tire – 1 and Tire – 2  are prepared for a prompt response to the problems faced by the grass level workers, delivery of enhanced IT enabled services will be far reaching.

v.   In spite of full computerization we are still unable to settle the minus balances in S B Accounts. Calculation of annual interest at SOs/MSGs varies with that of HO. We are still consuming a lot of time in revival of accounts, issue of duplicate pass book, settlement of claim cases etc since the power of different kinds of SOs varies with that of MDGs and HOs. Such disparities need to be addressed. Or else, the Change Leaders will be helpless.

vi.  The computerization programme of India Post has been possible only due to the sincere efforts of the Postal Assistants – Cum – System Administrators from the existing establishment. If it will proceed one step ahead under IT Modernization project, their help is quite inevitable. The posts of S As should be newly created rather than managing from the existing establishment.  But the Department is silent on such issue.

vii.  The number of System Administrators in comparison to the number of computerized post offices is very low as a result of which the technical faults found in any P O is not being solved instantly inviting suspension of work and increasing public resentment. Their number should be proportionate with convenient movement to solve the problems instantly.

There are similar other small issues which can be solved by the local administration. But unfortunately, when suggestions given by the Postmaster and Staff Side in this regard are not being responded by the authorities at present, it is doubtful that the suggestions of the Change Leaders will be heard anymore in future.

The confidence of the so called proposed Change Leaders of India Post will remain affected so long as their competence is measured, regulated and dealt with in a bureaucratic manner. To adopt the corporate culture in true sense, the traditional mindset is required to be changed.

Conclusion :

We do realize that there can be no progress without change. We are already a part of the present transformation of India Post and not opposing any change which can bring prosperity except suggesting some modifications to suit the needs of both the employees and the Department.  So far as the roles of Change Leaders are concerned, now, it is clear that while M/s Tata Consultancy Services Limited and others will work as external change agents, the nominated Change Leaders of the Department will work as internal change agents.  It is a fact to be admitted that M/s TCS and others being outside agents are not bound by the Department’s culture, politics or traditions and lack an understanding of our organization’s history, operating procedures and personnel. Therefore, they may not be able to bring a different perspective to the situation and challenge the status quo. This can be a disadvantage. To offset their limited familiarity with India Post, the Project Teams from various outside selected vendors are required to be paired with the internal coordinators from the human resources department of India Post and in turn, India Post should keep itself ready to accept the Change Leaders as the detective, advocate, counselor, facilitator, mediator and the expert as well. These two can then work together with line management.  

            So, Natkhat Mithoo before telling the next part(s) of his story should think over the competence and confidence of the members of his community and suggest ways and means to have a clear solution to the existing problems so that the aim of transforming India Post into a “Technology Enabled, Self-Reliant Market Leader” as proposed under I T Modernization Project 2012 can be materialized in true sense.

 *****